Here at Wild Horse Education (WHE) we get a lot of comments and emails asking how we cope with the stress of advocating for wild horses and burros. There are people that say they are afraid to watch videos and read posts. Many don’t understand how we can do what we do. Our VP Marta Williams is an author of several books including: Ask Your Animal, Beyond Words, and Learning Their Language. Marta offered to write a response. Thank you Marta.

Several people have called or written asking us for help on how to cope with what is happening to our wild herds. One person said she can’t sleep at night because she is having nightmares about the torture and suffering these animals are going through.

I often say Dickens got it wrong—our time is actually the worst of times. The truth is we will not be able to save all the wild horses and burros. All we can hope to do is stop the abuse, keep them in the wild, keep them out of the slaughter houses, and work toward some kind of relief for the ones taken from the wild, with perhaps some of them returned. That would be our best case scenario.

It is difficult in the extreme to deal with all that is happening to the animals and the earth and not go into denial, but rather keep moving forward, totally conscious of all that is wrong and bad. However, that is really the only option. Dr. Helen Caldecott, the well known nuclear activist, advises that the best way to deal with grief and despair about what is happening in the world is to get involved and do something to address what concerns you the most.

You will probably have to keep trying things out until you find the course of action that is right for you. When you find that, the anxiety and sleepless nights will at least lessen, because you will know you are doing the best you can to help change things. What you ultimately discover as your way of helping will be unique to you. I am now doing all I can to assist Wild Horse Education (WHE), and that is helping me sleep at night.

Naoto Matsumura, a rice farmer from the town of Tomioka, which is six miles away from the exploded Fukushima nuclear power plant, did something most of us couldn’t imagine. He went away when the power plant blew up, but could not sleep at night thinking about all the animals that had been abandoned in the town. Many were tied up, and many died of starvation. So he had to go back. Now he is the only person living in the town. He lives alone, knowing he is totally radioactive and will die from it. But he is content because he is helping the animals for as long as he can and they are not starving any more.

Laura Leigh, Founder of Wild Horse Education (WHE) followed her heart and ended up going on the road, devoting all her time, and often living out of a suitcase, in order to document, and ultimately change what BLM is doing to the wild horses and burros of America. Few people could do what she has done and continues to do, but this is what her heart requires of her.

For you, the right course of action may be writing letters every day for the causes you care about, or going to protests and public actions. Each of us has different skills and a different path. If you are not sure what it is you need to do to help, start asking to be shown what you are supposed to do. Then follow where your heart leads.

“Activism is my rent for living on the planet.” ~ Alice Walker

“Set Us Free” is a video of some BLM roundups in the year 2012. The video has a couple graphic images but is primarily a “fight song.” Turn up the volume and listen…

You can write to us at: WildHorseEducation@gmail.com or to Marta at: WHE.Action@gmail.com